Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Top Gun

  • ‘Jurassic World’ Kicks Off Strong Internationally As ‘Top Gun Maverick’ Passes $200M in the US

    ‘Jurassic World’ Kicks Off Strong Internationally As ‘Top Gun Maverick’ Passes $200M in the US

    Top Gun Maverick will end the day passing $200M as it pulled in a powerful Wednesday with $14.8M, which is a 6% drop. An incredible weekday takes and highlights the power this film has on the word-of-mouth side. It already passed the original’s domestic box office, which stood at $180.2M, and Mission: Impossible‘s $180.9M. Internationally, the film is already on its way towards $400M and may even pass $500M by Sunday. So, it’ll definitely be a contender for the top release for the summer.

    The film has seen a younger draw, which is great in addition to the older main crowd, and is now enjoying the fact that 46% of schools closed and 88% of colleges went on break. Its only main competitor that might take a big chunk out of its box office will be the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion. Speaking of, the film has already pulled in $16.7M on Thursday and is on its way to potentially pull in $50M+ over the weekend internationally.

    It’s only available in a few markets and will release in 44 more once June 10th rolls around. It had a huge opening over in South Korea, and the film is likely to be a big competitor this year. Surprisingly, the only European market it released in was Italy, where it is 75% ahead of Fallen Kingdom. Top Gun is still performing strong internationally, but it may take a bite once it truly releases fully next week. It’s going to be quite interesting to see two giant releases once again compete for the market, which hasn’t been seen at this size since before the pandemic.

    Source: Deadline (Top Gun), Twitter, Deadline (Jurassic World)

  • ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Ends Memorial Day Weekend With Massive $160.5M

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Ends Memorial Day Weekend With Massive $160.5M

    It looks like Top Gun Maverick managed to pull up even more momentum than predictions set and has officially passed the $160M mark over the four-day Memorial Day weekend. The key audience of 35+ moviegoers has returned to push this film and it seems it was exactly what they were waiting for to see with the pandemic keeping them from visiting theaters.

    Originally the film’s lowest openings were at the conservative $95M and it’s the second film after the pandemic to start to truly beat expectations, as did Spider-Man: No Way Home last December. Paramount’s domestic distribution president Chris Aronson had the following to say about its success:

    I think it opens the door to what is possible.

    Chris Aronson

    IMAX president Megan Colligan also highlighted that this may be just the start with other strong contenders hitting theaters soon, which include Jurassic World: Dominion, Elvis, Lightyear, Minions: Rise of Gru, and Thor: Love and Thunder.

    A whole segment of moviegoers have just come out for first time. Top Gun is an exceptional movie, and there is a really excellent lineup of movies coming down the pike. You really need that one-two-punch.

    Top Gun had a 55% purchase by 35 years and older viewers with 18% even being older than 55 years. In comparison, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘ ticket buyers were predominantly younger with 66% below the age of 34 years. Yet, 21% of younger audiences also came to check out the new Top Gun film, highlighting the interest of cross-generations, most likely a family bonding event for parents sharing their nostalgia with their children.

    It further highlights the potential of older skewed films drawing in an audience once again, but there’s a chance that it may also be a film that happened to release at the perfect time. As people have reached a boiling point with the pandemic and may be looking for that feeling that this film provides. The potential is that this film leads to a future with a stronger balance and diversity in cinema, which helps further develop all genres and entries.

    Source: THR

  • ‘Top Gun Maverick’ Takes ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’s Spot as Memorial Day Weekend’s Highest Opening Ever

    ‘Top Gun Maverick’ Takes ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’s Spot as Memorial Day Weekend’s Highest Opening Ever

    It looks like word-of-mouth is definitely pushing Tom Cruise‘s Top Gun Maverick to new heights. Not only did its Sunday remain surprisingly strong, but the film is now at an impressive $156M. As such, it’ll now beat Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End to take the crown of Memorial Day weekend’s biggest opening. There is a chance that it could still go higher and potentially reach $160M but either way it has definitely taken the crown this weekend.

    The old-school blockbuster has been a revelation for many that were looking for a pause in superhero fare. While one could argue that the way these jet pilots fly isn’t quite human either, Top Gun Maverick definitely connected with audiences over the weekend. For those wondering if this is the end of superhero cinema, it’s more a sign that we’ll see a bigger balance moving forward if studios learn the right lessons from this film’s success.

    Tom Cruise is a very unique kind of actor, who has a strong hand over his projects. The film’s success may also bode well for next year’s Mission Impossible film, which smartly released an early trailer alongside this film. The strong success of Everything Everywhere All At Once has also re-established a new position for small and medium-sized projects within the market. A good balance of both crowd-pleasing blockbusters like genre-specific fairs alongside unique offerings for various age groups joined by smaller productions offering creative alternatives could not only revive a full blockbuster post-pandemic but push its development further.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Pulls in $248M Worldwide in 3-Days, Tom Cruise’s First $100M Domestic Opening

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Pulls in $248M Worldwide in 3-Days, Tom Cruise’s First $100M Domestic Opening

    It’s finally official, as the final numbers will still come in but it’s looking like Top Gun: Maverick has pulled in $124M at the domestic box office in 3-days. Keep in mind, that it’s Memorial Day weekend and it gets an additional boost with the fourth day, which puts it at potentially passing $150M by tomorrow. As of now, it’s the third-highest opening of 2022 and Tom Cruise‘s biggest opening ever in his long career. It’s also opened $100M more than the original when it was made available back in 1986.

    Worldwide the film is currently at $248M which is just 0.5M short from The Batman‘s opening. It is now Paramount’s biggest opening and they already had a strong year with Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s $72M, The Lost City‘s $30M, Jackass Forever at $23M, and Scream‘s $30M. The film has beat expectations and is making quite the splash that rivals 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. It stays on track, it could even beat that film’s $153M to become Memorial Day weekend’s highest opening film.

    As expected, the film is male-dominated but it’s only 58%. 30% said they’d watch it again in theaters which put it on a good hold for the next weekends. We’ll see if higher openings still end up leading to bigger drops, as was suspected with other recent releases but given how close it is to The Batman, it may have a similar development. With final numbers not yet in, it could also even pass The Batman‘s opening weekend, but we’ll know more by tomorrow.

    Source: Twitter, Deadline, Forbes

  • ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Continues to Top Expectations, Gunning for $255M+ Worldwide Opening Weekend

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Continues to Top Expectations, Gunning for $255M+ Worldwide Opening Weekend

    It’s a true summer box office revival as Top Gun: Maverick is on its way to hype up the industry’s upcoming releases with a record-breaking Memorial Day release. Not only is it beating early expectations, but the return of Tom Cruise as Pete Mitchell after 36 years will establish Paramount’s most successful release at the box office yet. As of now, it’s eyeing $120M for a three-day opening and would still end its four-day weekend at $150M after pulling in $51.8M on Friday. Comscore’s senior media analyst Paul Dergarebedian had to follow to say on the actor pulling gin these numbers.

    Tom Cruise is one of the few true movie stars left in the business. His name on the marquee means something to audiences who have come to trust that his films will be worth every dollar of that movie ticket purchase.

    Paul Dergarebedian

    The film has a strong pull for a four-day weekend and its massive critical success is pulling in a lot. It’s even beating out other Paramount releases to take the top spots and create a new benchmark for the studio. Internationally, the film is beating its $80M projects and is on its route to potentially pulling in $125M over 3-days, which would hint at a potential $255M opening weekend worldwide. It’s generally a great performance and it’ll be interesting to see how its legs perform.

    A+ rating and strong word-of-mouth are definitely playing in its favor, which hasn’t been seen since Spider-Man: No Way Home. So, the film could be another exception within the market but its second weekend will be interesting to see. The strong performance is also thanks to an older demographic which came at the cost of Downtown Abbey: A New Era which dropped 76% in its second weekend as it has a similar base older audience.

    Source: CNN, Twitter

  • ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Nabs a CinemaScore of A+

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Nabs a CinemaScore of A+

    It’s become somewhat of a tradition to take a look at how films are performing based on their CinemaScore. For those that may not know, it’s an analysis based on viewers that just watched a film that give the latest release a score from A+ to F. Ironically, the rating has been quite frontloaded with most films moving between A+ to B- and a C-rating has commonly been associated with a film not being as well received with general audiences. Top Gun: Maverick has now joined the A+ club, as revealed by CinemaScore.

    https://twitter.com/CinemaScore/status/1530396481273872384

    As such the film has now beaten the 1986’s score of A and highlights the popularity surrounding this legacy sequel. It also joins Spider-Man: No Way Home with the A+ rating which is a showcase of a general audience pleaser and will likely bode very well for its box office going forward. The CinemaScore generally also helps to get a feeling for how the film’s legs might end up being and where it’ll end its box office run.

    Maverick is already overperforming with a potential $142M Memorial Day weekend which beats out the $100M predictions earlier on. It’ll likely also have a good hold throughout the upcoming weeks as more competition starts entering the market like Jurassic World Dominion. So, it’ll be interesting to see where the film might end up moving forward.

    Source: Twitter, CinemaScore

  • ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Speeds Towards Record $142M+ Memorial Day Weekend

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Speeds Towards Record $142M+ Memorial Day Weekend

    It looks like Joseph Kosinski is about to make quite the splash in cinemas, as Top Gun: Maverick is on its way to pull in $142.4M over Memorial Day weekend. The 4-day weekend will put the film on its path to beating out the record held by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End for 15 years ago. Currently, it’ll likely nab $117M over a 3-day period with Friday potentially ending at $50M. That puts it above its initial $100M prediction, but The Numbers does potentially see it also reaching a high of $150M.

    Maverick will now be the second-best opening for Paramount only behind Iron Man 2‘s $128.1M, which also holds the record of the highest opening day since 2010 that the film could overtake if it beats its Friday expectations. This also makes the film Tom Cruise‘s highest-grossing film ever after already pulling in a great $19.3M, which is a new record for Paramount Pictures.

    What makes the Top Gun sequel stand out is that it pulls in an older demographic that has been quite hesitant to return to theaters. Marvel Studios and most modern blockbusters focus on the younger crowd with its four-quadrant approach, Maverick shakes things up in an interesting way to highlight the potential of other non-IP blockbusters finding their footing in the market once again. Diversity further pushes innovation and could also be a

    source: Deadline, Variety, The Numbers

  • ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ on its Way to Become Tom Cruise’s Biggest Worldwide Opening Ever

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ on its Way to Become Tom Cruise’s Biggest Worldwide Opening Ever

    Tom Cruise has always been a box office draw, and it looks like that isn’t going to change anytime soon. According to early estimates, Top Gun: Maverick is on its way to a weekend opening of $92M to beyond $100M stateside. It also would add up to another $80M internationally, which would put its opening weekend at $180M worldwide.

    The film is being described as a “five-quad” movie that is expected to become an aggressively overperforming title, especially as older men are open to checking the film out. Paramount has taken a smart strategy by promoting the film over the course of the last month, especially when it was previewed at CinemaCon to get exhibitors excited for what’s to come. It also left a splash at the Cannes Film Festival, where Cruise received a surprise Palme D’or.

    The film will also receive the widest release in the United States since The Lion King in 2019. China and Russia aren’t in the mix, which puts its development towards beating the actor’s previous biggest worldwide opening with The Mummy at $172.3M. It’s also considered an award season contender, which echoes similarly how Dune was a “blockbuster release that isn’t quite a blockbuster” in the eyes of the Academy.

    It’s great for Tom Cruise‘s career and most likely will help boost the way they tackle his upcoming Mission: Impossible films in the promotion as well. Cruise has made a career out of single-handily pushing his films in a way that others can’t due to his position which is quite admirable but also highlights the exception rather than the rule. Having his biggest opening weekend with a legacy title like this does bode well for other films to enter the market in a big way.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ To Have the Widest Release in North America of All Time

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ To Have the Widest Release in North America of All Time

    There’s been a lot of discussion regarding the current trends of Hollywood blockbusters dominating cinemas. Yet, it looks like another big release is going to be present across the entire United States with Top Gun: Maverick set to become the all-time widest opening in the United States. It’s now set to release in 4,732 theaters, which beast 2019’s Lion King held the record at 4,725. To put it into comparison, this year’s biggest releases so far included Doctor Strange in the Mutliverse of Madness at 4,534 and The Batman at 4,417.

    A wide release highlights the expectations set by Skydance Media and Paramount Pictures in what the film has to offer. The hype has been great, especially with its overwhelmingly positive reviews. Of course, it’s been a while since the first Top Gun found its way into theaters back in 1986, but Tom Cruise has always been quite the box office draw, the Mission: Impossible franchise is certainly a testament to that.

    Current predictions do see the film releasing between $98M to $125M, which has been growing steadily as we near its release later this week. For now, there’s a chance it might go beyond those expectations especially as they widen its release in the United States. There’s no word if the European and other international markets will also see an expansion.

    Source: Twitter

  • Twenty-One Pilots Originally Worked on ‘Top Gun: Maverick’s Soundtrack

    Twenty-One Pilots Originally Worked on ‘Top Gun: Maverick’s Soundtrack

    Here’s a curious surprise, it seems that Twenty-One Pilots was originally meant to work on the soundtrack for Top Gun: Maverick. While many know that Lady Gaga took on that task with her ballad Hold My Hand, we may have gotten a very different soundtrack at an earlier point. The news comes from the Twenty-One Pilots frontman Tyler Joseph, who shared on the radio station KROQ the story, making the claim that it was the film’s main star and producer Tom Cruise who had them kicked off the project after already signing on by Paramount Pictures.

    I was working with the music placement person for the new ‘Top Gun’ on writing a new song for them, and then I believe Tom Cruise came in and just fired everyone. You’ve seen that new ‘Top Gun’ thing that he’s got? The trailer has been out for, like, three years, so there’s been a few overhauls, and I was a part of that, so, they moved on.

    Tyler Joseph

    It’s certainly not unheard of that Cruise has shown his influence over projects, especially a legacy sequel. He also highlighted that he worked on a few scenes to write the original music. So, it’s curious that they got kicked at a later point, highlighting it was around the time he saw the footage.

    It was actually pretty soon after they brought me in to show me parts of the movie and what they were looking for and stuff. Then I got word that there was like a wholesale swap.

    Tyler Joseph

    Lady Gaga took over at that point, but it’s unclear what may have exactly led to that “wholesale swap” as he points out. It’s not great when you start working on a project to suddenly get kicked, but it probably will never be confirmed if it truly was Cruise that got them kicked off the project.

    Source: IndieWire